Handling alters aggression and “loser” effect formation in Drosophila melanogaster

In Drosophila, prior fighting experience influences the outcome of later contests: losing a fight increases the probability of losing second contests, thereby revealing “loser” effects that involve learning and memory. In these experiments, to generate and quantify the behavioral changes observed as consequences of losing fights, we developed a new behavioral arena that eliminates handling. We compared two commonly used fly handling procedures with this new chamber and demonstrated that handling influences aggressive behavior and prevents “loser” effect formation. In addition, we induced and observed novel aspects of learning associated with aggression such as the formation of robust winner effects.